Opener Burns swears by rational approach

Joe Burns is a smart man. He has studied business and finance at university. He sensibly says his favourite cricketer growing up was Mark Waugh, now a national selector. And when it comes to batting at the Gabba, he knows that it pays to stay rational, to not lose one's head. The ball will swing and seam, so don't chase it. Wait for the bowler to hit your scoring zones. Play straight, and late. Simple.

It is an approach that has brought Burns great success for Queensland over the last few years: as an opener at the Gabba he has averaged 62.70 in first-class matches. If he can bring the same calm approach to his new role as Australia's opening batsman in the first Test against New Zealand starting in Brisbane on Thursday, he will greatly improve his chances of bedding down a permanent spot.

"For me it really simplifies my game," Burns said of the challenge of opening at the Gabba. "You can't go outside your box too much because you'll probably get dismissed. I know there's a process for me that if I can execute that I can have success and it's something that gives me a lot of confidence going into the game. I'm also aware that the challenge of international cricket at the Gabba is different to state level.

"The characteristics of the Gabba are if the bowlers bowl well it will be tough work, but if they miss their spots you get good scoring opportunities. That's the benefit of playing there before, you know where those scoring opportunities are. There's a lot there for the bowlers but it's also a fantastic place to bat. You can score all around the ground, there's good pace in the wicket. If you bat well you make runs and you generally make them quite quickly as well."

At the other end will be an opening partner who knows no other way than to score quickly. David Warner and Chris Rogers worked so well together as an opening combination, averaging partnerships of 51.32, because their styles were complementary. Burns knows he is not quite in the Rogers mould, but is confident that the left-right combination with Warner has the potential to work effectively.

"Davey is a great player," Burns said. "Whenever you're playing with a great player at the other end it always takes pressure off yourself. In saying that I know I need to be making runs and batting well. I'm not going to be relying on Davey to take on all the onus. I'm going out there with a job to do, I have to make sure I'm doing it.

"The chance in the one-dayers [against England this year] to open together I really enjoyed it, I hope he did as well. I think we seem to bat well together, left-hand, right-handers, usually one partner might get some scoring phases while the other one is getting some good balls and vice-versa. It's a real benefit having an experienced guy at the other end."

Burns himself might not have the experience of Warner at Test level, but neither is he entering his first Test match: he debuted last summer against India and scored a pair of half-centuries in his second Test match at the SCG. However, he was then left out of the touring squads for the West Indies series and the Ashes, with Michael Clarke and Mitchell Marsh returning from injury, and Adam Voges preferred after a prolific domestic season.

"I got told that it was a tough decision and there's other guys making a lot of runs and it was as simple as that," Burns said. "There were a lot of players coming back into the team. I understood that the last Test of the summer, there was a fair gap between the West Indies and Ashes tour. There was always going to be a changing of the squad, that's the nature of the game we play."

Now there is a chance for Burns to earn himself a full-time position in this Australian Test line-up following the retirements of Clarke and Rogers. And maybe if there is ever a line-ball call to be made by the selection panel, he might have won a friend in selector Mark Waugh, after being asked who his idol was growing up in the 1990s.

"My favourite batter was Mark Waugh - I know it's bad saying that because he's a selector now," Burns joked. "When I was a junior, my junior coach said I looked like Mark Waugh playing off my legs. So I spent hours upon hours trying to look like Mark Waugh with my brother bowling at me. I've still got one of his bats at home, I think a V100. He was definitely my favourite player."

Yes, that Joe Burns certainly is a smart man.